Merbau Wood Lumber

Merbau Wood Lumber

Merbau Wood Lumber – Merbau wood has an orangish-brown color when freshly cut, but ages to a dark reddish-brown. Color variation between boards can be high. Small yellow mineral deposits are found throughout the wood, making it easy to separate from other woods. These yellow deposits are water-soluble and may cause staining when wetted. Merbau is strong and durable and resists both rotting and insect attack. Common uses include flooring, furniture, musical instruments, turned objects, and specialty wood items. Workability: Merbau Wood Lumber wood glues and finishes well, though it can be difficult to saw due to gumming and dulling…

Padauk Wood Lumber

Padauk Wood Lumber

Padauk Wood Lumber – Padauk heartwood color ranges from a pale pinkish-orange to a deep brownish-red. Padauk wood is reddish-orange when freshly cut, darkening substantially over time to a reddish or purplish-brown, lighter color pieces may age to a grayish-brown. Padauk wood lumber is used in fine joinery, fancy turnery, carvings, flooring, decorative veneer, tool and knife handles. Padauk has excellent decay resistance and is resistant to termites and other insects. Workability: Padauk Wood Lumber is generally easy to work, though tearout may occur during planing on quartersawn or interlocked grain pieces. Padauk turns, glues, and finishes well. Looking for…

Poplar Wood Lumber

Poplar Wood Lumber

Poplar Wood Lumber – Poplar wood is seldom used for its appearance, it is most commonly used for pallets, crates, upholstered furniture frames, and plywood. Poplar wood veneer is used for a variety of applications, dyed in various colors, or on the hidden undersides of veneered panels of other more decorative woods. Poplar wood is considered a hardwood by species, but is typically softer than pine, a common softwood. Poplar is moderately durable to non-durable and is susceptible to insect attack. Workability: Poplar Wood Lumber is very easy to work in almost all regards, its only downside is its softness.…

Purpleheart Wood Lumber

Purpleheart Wood Lumber

Purpleheart Wood Lumber – When freshly cut, Purpleheart is a dull grayish-purplish-brown. With drying and exposure, the wood becomes a deep eggplant purple. With further age and exposure to light, the wood becomes a dark brown with a hint of purple. This color-shift can be slowed and minimized by using a UV inhibiting finish. Purpleheart wood is used in turnery, cabinets, fine furniture, flooring, tool handles, heavy construction and shipbuilding. Purpleheart is very durable and resists both decay and most insects. Workability: Purpleheart Wood Lumber can present some unique challenges. If worked with dull tools, or if cutter speeds are too…

Red Oak Lumber

Red Oak Lumber

Red Oak Wood – Red Oak Lumber is one of the most popular hardwoods in the USA for cabinet and furniture making. Its heartwood is a light to medium brown, often with a reddish cast. Its nearly white to light brown sapwood is not always sharply demarcated from the heartwood, and quarter-sawn sections display prominent ray-fleck patterns. Red Oak is rated as non-durable to perishable, with a poor insect resistance. It stains when in contact with water, particularly along its porous growth ring areas. Workability: Red Oak Lumber is easy to work with hand and machine tools, but has moderately…

Sapele Wood Lumber

Sapele Wood Lumber

Sapele Wood Lumber – Sapele heartwood is a golden to dark reddish brown and tends to darken with age. A ribbon pattern is seen on quartersawn boards, and Sapele is also known for a wide variety of other figured grain patterns, such as pommele, quilted, mottled, wavy, beeswing, and fiddleback. Sapele is used in the construction of fine furniture and cabinetwork, decorative veneers, plywood, joinery, flooring and paneling.  Sapele wood is popular for flooring and stock with a ribbon grain is typically pulled at a premium for decorative finishes. Sapele ranges from moderately to very durable in decay resistance and…

Teak Wood Lumber

Teak Wood Lumber

Teak Wood Lumber – Teak wood tends to be a golden or medium brown, the color darkening with age. Teak is a close-grained hardwood with high natural oil and silica content. It is one of the hardest, strongest and most durable of all woods, highly resistant to rotting and almost impervious to the effects of sun, rain, frost or snow. Teak requires little or no maintenance regardless of the environment. It is ideal for all outdoor applications and has been the choice of boat builders for centuries. Teak wood is now a premium wood of choice for designers in hotels,…

Utile Wood Lumber

Utile Wood Lumber

Utile Wood Lumber – Utile wood is a uniform medium reddish brown. Its well-defined sapwood is a pale yellow. Utile generally lacks any dramatic grain figuring, which is common in the closely related Sapele. Utile Wood has an interlocking grain, giving it an alternating light and dark banded look. Utile wood is used in flooring, furniture, cabinetwork, joinery, decorative veneers, plywood and boat construction. It has a moderate rot resistance, with mixed reports on insect resistance. Workability: Utile Wood Lumber can be troublesome in some machining operations, (planing, routing, etc.), resulting in tearout due to its interlocked grain. It will…

Walnut Wood Lumber

Walnut Wood Lumber

Walnut Wood Lumber – Walnut is a family of wood with various grain and color variations, but generally similar properties. In the USA, Black Walnut is most often used, its heartwood ranging from a light pale brown to a dark chocolate brown with darker brown streaks. Its color can sometimes have a grey, purple, or reddish cast. The sapwood is pale yellow-gray to nearly white. Figured grain patterns such as curl, crotch, and burl are also found. Its working characteristics coupled with a rich brown coloration puts the wood in a class by itself among hardwoods. Black Walnut is rated…

Wenge Wood Lumber

Wenge Wood – Wenge Wood Lumber is medium brown, at times with a reddish or yellowish hue, and nearly black streaks. Upon application of a wood finish the wood can become nearly black. Wenge wood has excellent strength and hardness properties and is dark enough to be used as a substitute for ebony. Wenge is a visually striking hardwood often used for strip flooring, joinery, cabinetry and decorative veneers. It is very durable and resistant to termite attack. Workability: Wenge Wood Lumber can be difficult to work with hand and machine tools. It blunts tools and sands unevenly due to…